Reference soil Brazil 04: Ferralsol

BR004

Ferralsols occur in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, mainly on old and stable land surfaces.

Characteristics

Soils having a ferralic horizon (strongly weathered horizon with low-activity clays and very low amounts of weatherable minerals) between 25 and 200 cm from the soil surface. They lack a nitic horizon (a horizon with strongly developed, nut-shaped structure) and do not have a layer which fulfils the requirements of an argic horizon and which has, in the upper 30 cm, 10 percent or more water-dispersible clay.

Distribution of Ferralsols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil BR004: Ferralsols

Brief field description: Very deep, well drained, dusky red clay soil derived from basic rock; weakly structured. High bio-activity: many antholes throughout the profile. Charcoal particles of 1-3 cm diameter throughout the profile. Silt fraction is considered to be pseudo-silt. *) Brazilian classification: Latossolo Roxo eutrofico. Reference soil BR 04 is comparable to soil profile No. 1360.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Haplic- Ferralsol (Eutric Clayic Rhodic)

Geri-Lixic- Ferralsol (Rhodic)

56-200 cm

ferralic horizon

0-34 cm	ochric horizon
56-200 cm	ferralic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Rhodi-Haplic Lixisol

Rhodic Ferralsol

0-34 cm	ochric A horizon
18-200 cm	argic B horizon
- cm	ferralic B horizon

0-34 cm	ochric A horizon
18-200 cm	oxic B horizon

Local classification:	Latossolo Roxo eutrófico

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Typic Eutrustox
USDA-SCS (1975)	Typic Eutrorthox ustic clayey kaolinitic isothermic

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Physical characteristics

Particle size distribution

Depth (cm)	Gravel % v/v	very coarse sand % w/w	coarse sand % w/w	medium sand % w/w	fine sand % w/w	very fine sand % w/w	Total sand % w/w	coarse silt % w/w	fine silt % w/w	Total silt % w/w	Clay % w/w
0-18	-	0.3	0.6	2.1	3.5	1.6	8.1	20.1	31.9	52.0	39.9
18-34	-	0.2	0.6	2.1	3.4	2.1	8.4	13.9	13.8	27.7	64.0
34-56	-	0.1	0.3	2.1	3.5	2.0	8.0	13.3	16.0	29.3	62.7
56-90	-	0.1	0.3	2.1	3.7	2.0	8.2	14.7	17.4	32.1	59.6
90-150	-	0.4	0.4	1.9	3.5	1.9	8.1	17.1	19.2	36.3	55.7
150-200	-	0.4	0.4	1.5	2.7	1.8	6.8	19.0	17.7	36.7	56.4

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
6-15	1.342	-	-	-	-
0-18	-	74	-	28.0	39.9
18-34	-	73	-	35.7	64.0
30-40	1.199	-	-	-	-
34-56	-	74	-	12.9	62.7
85-95	1.143	-	-	-	-
56-90	-	73	-	6.2	59.6
90-150	-	70	-	0.4	55.7
150-200	-	68	-	0.0	56.4

Other physical data

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	pF 0 % v/v	pF 1.0 % v/v	pF 1.5 % v/v	pF 2.0 % v/v	pF 2.3 % v/v	pF 2.7 % v/v	pF 3.4 % v/v	pF 4.2 % v/v
6-15	1.342	52.9	51.7	45.0	39.8	37.4	35.2	31.2	29.5
30-40	1.199	55.6	50.6	46.2	36.9	34.3	33.2	29.5	28.4
85-95	1.143	58.0	57.3	46.5	39.4	34.0	31.9	27.7	26.8

Chemical data

Depth (cm)	pH H2O	pHKCl	EC 1: 2.5 dS/m	CaCO3 % w/w	C % w/w	N %	C / N	Exch. Acid cmol(c)/kg	Exch. Al cmol(c)/kg	Ca cmol(c)/kg	Mg cmol(c)/kg	K cmol(c)/kg	Na cmol(c)/kg	Sum Cations cmol(c)/kg
0-18	6.4	5.4	0.08	0.5	1.98	0.17	12	0.1	0	6.4	1.4	0.6	0.0	8.4
18-34	6.6	5.5	0.04	0.0	1.14	0.10	11	0.1	0	4.9	0.7	0.1	0.0	5.7
34-56	6.9	5.7	0.03	0.2	0.89	0.07	13	0	0	5.1	0.7	0.0	0.1	5.9
56-90	7.0	5.9	0.03	0.2	0.75	0.05	15	0	0	4.7	0.6	0.0	0.1	5.4
90-150	7.0	6.0	0.03	0.2	0.52	0.03	17	0	0	3.1	1.1	0.0	0.0	4.2
150-200	7.0	6.1	0.04	0.5	0.34	-	-	0	0	2.4	0.5	0.0	0.1	3.0

Depth (cm)	Base sat. %	CEC soil cmol(c)/kg	CEC clay cmol(c)/kg	CEC org cmol(c)/kg	ECEC cmol(c)/kg	Al sat. %	ESP %
0-18	70	12.0	30	6.9	-	0	0
18-34	70	8.1	13	4.0	-	0	0
34-56	84	7.0	11	3.1	-	0	1
56-90	89	6.1	10	2.6	-	0	2
90-150	93	4.5	8	1.8	-	0	0
150-200	86	3.5	6	1.2	-	0	3

Depth (cm)	pH NaF	P Retention %	ODOE	Al o % w/w	Si o % w/w	Fe d % w/w	Al d % w/w	Fe p % w/w	Al p % w/w	C p % w/w	Fe o % w/w
0-18	-	47	-	0.35	0.02	8.11	0.68	-	-	-	0.40
18-34	-	49	-	0.36	0.02	8.02	0.62	-	-	-	0.53
34-56	-	52	-	0.40	0.02	8.37	0.68	-	-	-	0.59
56-90	-	-	-	0.37	0.04	8.17	0.67	-	-	-	0.69
90-150	-	53	-	0.29	0.03	8.18	0.66	-	-	-	0.75
150-200	-	57	-	0.24	0.04	8.05	0.64	-	-	-	0.75

Elemental composition of the clay

Depth (cm)	SiO2 % w/w	Al2O3 % w/w	Fe2O3 % w/w	CaO % w/w	MgO % w/w	K2O % w/w	Na2O % w/w	TiO2 % w/w
56-90	22.6	33.0	24.7	0.00	0.08	0.00	0.00	2.87
90-150	22.2	33.2	25.4	0.00	0.08	0.00	0.03	2.95

Depth (cm)	MnO2 % w/w	P2O5 % w/w	Ign.Loss clay % w/w	Total Clay % w/w	SiO2/Al2O3 mol/mol	SiO2/Fe2O3 mol/mol	SiO2 / R mol/mol	Al2O3/Fe2O3 mol/mol
56-90	0.14	0.37	15.1	98.9	1.2	2.4	0.8	2.1
90-150	0.14	0.32	15.1	99.4	1.1	2.3	0.8	2.0

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
56-90	-	-	medium to strong	weak	-	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	-	-	-
90-150	-	-	medium to strong	weak	-	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	-	-	-

Sand mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Heavy Frac. sand % w/w	K-Feldspar % w/w	Light Fra. sand % w/w	Opaque % w/w	Plagioclase % w/w	Quartz % w/w
90-150	7.6	-	92.4	100	-	100

Profile description

Ap 0-18 cm	dusky red (10R 3/2, moist)clay,weak fine subangular blocky to granular,hard friable sticky plastic,many very fine continuous inped tubular pores,few large soft argillaceous nodules and few charcoal inclusions,very frequent channels,gradual smooth boundary to,
18-34 cm	dusky red (10R 3/4, dry) dusky red (10R 3/3, moist)clay,weak fine and medium subangular blocky,FA friable sticky plastic,patchy thin clay cutans,many very fine continuous inped tubular random pores,few large soft argillaceous nodules and few charcoal inclusions,very frequent channels,diffuse smooth boundary to,
BA 34-56 cm	dusky red (10R 3/4, dry) dusky red (10R 3/3, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,slightly hard very friable sticky plastic,patchy thin clay cutans,many very fine continuous inped tubular random pores,few large soft argillaceous nodules and few charcoal inclusions,very frequent channels,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bo1 56-90 cm	dusky red (10R 3/4, dry) dusky red (10R 3/3, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,slightly hard very friable sticky slightly plastic,many very fine continuous inped tubular random pores,few large soft argillaceous nodules and few charcoal inclusions,very frequent channels,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bo2 90-150 cm	dusky red (10R 3/4, dry) dusky red (10R 3/3, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,slightly hard very friable sticky slightly plastic,many very fine continuous inped tubular random pores,many large soft argillaceous nodules and few charcoal inclusions,very frequent channels,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bo3 150-250 cm	dusky red (10R 3/4, dry) dusky red (10R 3/3, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,slightly hard very friable sticky slightly plastic,many very fine continuous inped tubular random pores,many large soft argillaceous nodules and few charcoal inclusions,very frequent channels,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	fine-grained basic igneous rock
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	slope wash
Soil Depth	250cm
Texture of parent material	clayey
Weathering Resistance	moderate
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	highly

Occurrence of soil aggradation (McDonald et al., 1984)	absent
Intensity of the soil erosion type	slight
Soil erosion type	sheet

Major crops	sugar cane
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	high level arable farming

Altitude	650m
Physiographic Unit	low, very broad hill
Physiographic position of the site	middle slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	pediplain
Slope	7%
Form of the slope surrounding the site	straight
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Dry From - To	0-200cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	high
Estimated run off (class)	medium

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Surface cracking	small cracks (width less than 1 cm, or depth less than 50 cm)
Slaking of aggregates by tillage, rainfall or frost (USDA/SCS, 1979)	no surface slaking/crusting observed
Rock outcrop class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none
Evidence of salt; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-saline
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none

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Reference soil Brazil 04: Ferralsol

Characteristics

Reference soil BR004: Ferralsols

Classification